Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan

Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) is a Deobandi Muslim organziation in Pakistan which was formed in 1985 by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi, Isar-ul-Haq Qasmi, and Azam Tariq. It was established in Jhang, and it aims to counter the Shia Muslim influence, which was said to have increased following the Iranian Revolution. From the 1980s, they were involved in terrorist activities and in the murders of thousands of Shi'ites, and it also served as a political party, having a large vote bank in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In 1996, many members of the group left to form Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and the SSP was banned by Pervez Musharraf in 2002. Jhangvi was assassinated by Shi'ite militants in 1990, and Azam Tariq was assassinated by the Shi'ite group Sipah-e-Muhammad in 2003.